and once we were

and once we were Custom upholstery studio in Lincoln, Ontario. Specializing in residential, vintage and antique furniture reupholstery and made to order home furnishings.

Fabric showroom and sales by appointment only. custom and one of a kind furniture and upholstery. antiques & vintage accessories. home furnishings. custom sewing. based in lincoln, ontario. by appointment only

A client once apologized for taking three months to choose a fabric for her grandmother's chair.There was nothing to apo...
08/24/2026

A client once apologized for taking three months to choose a fabric for her grandmother's chair.

There was nothing to apologize for.

Some pieces carry more than fabric and springs. They carry a person. A room you grew up in. A hand that rested on the same armrest for years.

You don't rush that.

Take the few more weeks. Bring the swatch home and look at it in your actual light, the light where the chair will actually live. Look at two or three options before you settle. Sit with it.

There's time built into this work. Fabric gets chosen during the wait, and the wait is long enough to change your mind twice and still land somewhere right.

And if you're not ready to book yet, that's alright too. Reach out when you'd like to, and we'll stay in touch until you are.

This piece belonged to someone you loved. Getting it right is the whole point. 🪡

Most people hand over a beloved chair and never ask a single question about what happens to it next.They trust us with i...
08/22/2026

Most people hand over a beloved chair and never ask a single question about what happens to it next.

They trust us with it. And that trust means everything.

But somewhere between the drop-off and the day it comes home, a quiet uncertainty can settle in. What's happening to it? When will it be ready? Did I choose the right fabric?

You're allowed to ask. All of it.

You can ask us to walk you through exactly what we'll do to your piece.

You can ask what the estimate includes, and what might change the price along the way.

You can ask to see fabric samples before you commit to anything.

You can ask how we'll let you know if something unexpected turns up beneath the surface.

You can ask if there's a less expensive fabric that will still hold up well for years.

And you can ask for the timeline in writing before you leave a deposit.

None of these questions are too small. None of them are a bother. This is your piece, with your story stitched into it, and you deserve to feel like a part of the process from the first estimate to the day you carry it back through your door.

So go ahead and ask. We'd love nothing more. 🪡

The fabric is shot. The finish is tired. And they're half-convinced it isn't worth the trouble.We see it again and again...
08/20/2026

The fabric is shot. The finish is tired. And they're half-convinced it isn't worth the trouble.

We see it again and again. Someone brings in a piece they almost got rid of, apologizing for the state of it before they've even set it down. Torn seat. Faded wood. Something they've been stepping around in the garage, half-decided to let go.

The surface is rarely the whole story.

When we strip a piece back, what we find underneath is usually solid joinery. A tight, honest frame. Bones built to last in a way flat-pack furniture never could. The tiredness was only ever on the outside.

A piece that looked like a write-off becomes the one thing in the room you keep coming back to. It was made to stay.

So if you've been clearing out this summer, or you've found something at a market and you're unsure it's worth the trouble, look a little closer. Trust the good bones beneath the torn, faded fabric.

Some of the best pieces are just waiting to be seen again. 🌿

The fabric that looks perfect on the swatch doesn't always look right on the sofa in your room.A little square in your h...
08/18/2026

The fabric that looks perfect on the swatch doesn't always look right on the sofa in your room.

A little square in your hand is one thing. The same fabric, poured across a whole sofa, sitting under your window, beside your rug, in your light. That's something else.

I spent years as a stylist before I ever picked up an upholstery needle. So when a piece is here on the bench, I'm already picturing it where you live.

The scale of a pattern. The way a colour shifts by afternoon light. Whether that bold mustard velvet will sing in your space or quietly fight everything around it.

Choosing fabric is where a lot of second-guessing happens, and it's the part I love talking through. When you come to look at samples, we'll talk about your room, your light, the pieces it'll sit beside.

A piece that photographs well on a workbench looks lovely for a moment. What stays is the piece that feels like it was always meant to be there. 🪡

The sofa you're about to replace probably has another 40 years in its frame.That's the thing we keep coming back to. Mos...
08/16/2026

The sofa you're about to replace probably has another 40 years in its frame.

That's the thing we keep coming back to. Most furniture doesn't fail from the inside. It just looks like it did.

Think of a good pair of leather boots. The soles wear thin, and it's easy to call them done. But the upper is still perfect. The stitching still tight. The shape still there. Nobody throws out the whole boot. They resole it, and they wear it for another ten years.

Furniture is the same. The frame outlasts everything you can see from the outside. Underneath the faded, tired fabric, the bones are usually just fine.

We've started calling it sunk beauty. Structural value hidden beneath a surface that has simply aged. It's the reason so many good pieces end up at the curb, guilt and all, when replacing feels cheaper than caring for what you already have.

But not everything needs to end up in a landfill. Sometimes, like this chair, a piece just needs new fabric, a little attention, some paintand someone willing to trust the good bones beneath the wear.

Before you let something go, it's worth asking what's actually broken. Often, it's only the covering. 🌿

A wingback chair came in a few weeks ago looking perfectly sturdy. Solid arms, no wobble, the kind of frame you'd swear ...
08/14/2026

A wingback chair came in a few weeks ago looking perfectly sturdy. Solid arms, no wobble, the kind of frame you'd swear had years left in it.

Then we stripped the old fabric away.

Three of the corner joints had worked loose beneath all that stuffing, and the webbing had given out entirely. New fabric stretched over that frame would have lasted a year, maybe less. All that tension pulling on tired joints.

This is the thing about vintage and found furniture. It hides its troubles under layers of fabric and decades of dust. A joint that feels like nothing when a piece is padded and full becomes a split frame once fresh fabric adds its pull.

The real cost of skipping that check is bigger than the little repair. It's paying for a whole reupholstery twice.

So every piece that comes into the studio goes down to the bare frame first. We look at the joints, the springs, the webbing. We listen for what's loose and what's tired. Only then, when the bones are sound again, does a single inch of new fabric go on.

Good bones are worth trusting. But you have to see them first. 🪡

A sofa, two armchairs, and a client who wasn't sure what she wanted.She came to us unsure. That's more common than you'd...
08/12/2026

A sofa, two armchairs, and a client who wasn't sure what she wanted.

She came to us unsure. That's more common than you'd think. She knew the pieces were worth keeping, but the fabric, the direction, the right answer for her home? None of that had a shape yet.

So we talked. We asked the questions that come before any cut is made. And slowly, the uncertainty softened into a choice she felt good about. The kind of guiding that comes from years spent listening to what a piece, and its person, really need.

These scissors were there for all of it. Every fabric held up to the light. Every quiet decision. The first careful cut, and the last.

When it was done, she had a sofa and two armchairs remade for another ten years of living. ✂

The right cut comes after the right question.

A workshop at home must mean you can swing by whenever, chair in the trunk, hoping for a quick answer.We understand the ...
08/10/2026

A workshop at home must mean you can swing by whenever, chair in the trunk, hoping for a quick answer.

We understand the thought. Things just work a little differently here at 5359 King Street.

The studio is open by appointment only. And there's a good reason for that.

When you book a visit, time is set aside just for your piece. Time to really look at it, to run a hand over the worn spots and the good bones underneath. Time to talk through fabrics, to think about where this piece has been and where it's headed next.

Estimates take time here. They often involve a bit of research, so we don't give them on the spot. A rushed glance in a doorway can't tell your piece's story. A proper conversation can.

So the best first step is simple. Send us the details through the contact form, tell us about your piece, and we'll set aside the time it deserves.

Your furniture waited this long. It's worth doing right. 🌿

Some folks drop off a chair on a Tuesday, expecting it back by the weekend.We understand the hope in that. A tired old t...
08/08/2026

Some folks drop off a chair on a Tuesday, expecting it back by the weekend.

We understand the hope in that. A tired old thing, freshly made, ready to sit in by Sunday.

Quality restoration keeps its own quiet clock.

Right now, the wait for new pieces is about four months. And that's before the fabric even arrives. Fabric orders can take up to two weeks. Custom foam, up to five.

Then the work of it. Stripping the piece back to its frame. Rebuilding from the bones up. Reupholstering with care. Four to ten days, once everything is finally in hand.

None of that is padding. It's the honest shape of doing it well.

A piece that's carried its story this far deserves the time it takes to carry it further. 🪡

The right fabric reveals itself slowly, page by page.Look closely at the edge of a swatch book and you'll see it. The so...
08/06/2026

The right fabric reveals itself slowly, page by page.

Look closely at the edge of a swatch book and you'll see it. The soft fray. The worn cloth thinned by handling. Hundreds of choices made at close range, one finger at a time, thumbs sliding across weave after weave until something finally feels right.

This is how the choosing happens here. In the studio, in your hands, with samples from Schumacher, Kravet, Charlotte Fabrics, JFFabrics, Pindler, TGI, Barrow, Alendel, Wovetex, Ennis, Avant Guarde, Romo and Robert Allen spread out in front of you until the piece you're bringing back finds its cloth.

Some choices take a moment. Most take longer. And that's alright.

The right choice takes time to find. 🧵

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Lincoln, ON

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+16479488499

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